Our beautiful Katelyn, with her metallic smile, is turning 9 this Sunday. We are looking forward to celebrating with her on her special day! Any birthday wishes from our friends will be greatly appreciated.

Our beautiful Katelyn is turning 8 this coming Saturday. I am having trouble believe it myself. I do wish time would slow down a bit sometime.

We asked her if she wanted us to throw her a party, but she doesn’t want one. So instead, we’re planning a few special family things with her. We’ll start off with watching Ovo in Downtown. It’s a surprise so don’t tell her… We’ll then have a dinner at her favorite place: Benihana. We’ll then cap it with a trip to Tahoe for a few days of fun in the snow.

I’d really appreciate if you can write a short birthday wish for her as a comment to this post. I’ll make sure to show it to her on her birthday.

It will make her day! Thanks…

The picture above is an accidental picture. It was Suzanne’s birthday and I was setting up my camera on a tripod and was firing some test shots for a family portrait when Katelyn sneaked up in front of the camera. I fired the shutter and caught her. It turns out to be one of my favorite candid shot of Katelyn last year!

I was working on my laptop computer the other day in the family room. The girls just finished playing and they both decided to pick up a book and started reading. A few moments later, I over-heard Allison commented to Katelyn how she doesn’t like the idea of polar bears chasing and attacking poor penguins.

She’d made similar comments to me in the past, but the general response I usually gave her is how that’s just natural. You know, the circle of life thing… Apparently, that wasn’t a satisfying answer for Allison because she’s repeating same question to her big sister. A few days earlier, we also had watched a PBS nature show where David Attenborough was narrating a piece about polar bears going hunting for beluga whales trapped in the ice. Watching this probably triggered the concern about polar bears going after penguins in Allison’s head.

Then I observed a remarkable sisterly act from Katelyn…

She asked Allison to go to the living room and bring back a globe. We have a wooden medium-sized world globe that sits on a stand. Allison lugged the globe back for her sister. Katelyn put the globe in her lap and asked Allison to sit next to her. She pointed at the top of the globe and explained to Allison that it’s called the Artic and it’s where the polar bears live. She then inverted the globe and pointed to Antartica and explained that’s where the penguins live.

Katelyn went on to explain to Allison how it’d be impossible for polar bears to attack penguins because they live in the opposite sides of the earth. She explained:

The polar bears would have have to swim very far from north to south to get to the penguins!

Allison just said “Oh!” and seemed relieved.

I didn’t say a word– partly because my jaw just dropped. Couldn’t believe what I witnessed; I got a big kick out of what I just saw. Katelyn not only was addressing her little sister’s question but also tried to prove her point with a visual aid! And she did it with the intent of soothing her sister’s “concern” for the penguins.

It didn’t even occur to their ol’ dad that polar bears and penguins live on opposite poles. Smack on the head! No wonder I never ever saw any video footage of polar bears chasing after penguins. Man… my own daughter made me feel dumb. Katelyn did a better job then I did trying to make Allison feels better about polar bears going after penguins. She truly impressed me and made me a proud daddy.

I don’t expect Allison to ask the question again, thanks to her je-je (big sister).

One night many months ago, I was re-telling the story of the Tri-county pie-eating contest to Katelyn & Allison. Most people probably remember it from Stephen Kings’s Stand By Me– the barforama scene was both funny and gross to me when I watched it 20+ years ago. I had to rename the character from “Lard Ass” to “Fat Art” to do away with a “bad” word. Anyway, I grossed out the girls but they enjoyed how Fat Art got his revenge and got back at the people who were cruel to him. I told them that the story was from a movie.

So earlier this week, I caught Stand By Me on cable at the train scene which is just right before the barforama scene. So I called the girls from their room to watch the scene with me. I figured it’d be cool to make good on my promise of letting them see that part of the movie. When it was done, they thought it was pretty gross with all the barfing but they also thought it was funny too. As I turned off the TV and asked Allison:

Rex: “Did you like it?”

Allison: “It’s funny Daddy!”

Allison was impressed: “But how do you know these things?”

Rex: “You mean the story? Daddy watched the movie a long time ago. But I remember the story because it’s one of Daddy’s favorite movies!”

Allison: “Oh… I like it too Daddy!”

I think she was impressed that the story was “real” and that her old dad didn’t make up it all up… 🙂

We spent two nights at my sister in-law’s on a short trip to LA after Christmas. On the last night, Suzanne was out late seeing an old friend. I was putting the girls to bed when they asked for a story as they often do. At home, sometime instead of reading books I would tell them stories– some true accounts and some I make up. So, I was looking around at the new surrounding for things to work into my story (I usually make things up as I go) when I saw a ceiling fan. That gave me an idea.

So I made up this story of a boy who woke up and discovered himself all sweaty on a sweltering summer day. He got ready for school, but grew increasingly uncomfortable in the hot morning. He kept complaining about the heat to his mother and didn’t want to go to school. His endless whining throughout breakfast gave her an idea. She gave him a shoe box and told him that it was magic! This magical thing in the box will instantly make him cool and comfortable. But there’s one condition: he cannot open it until he gets to class. Otherwise, the magic will not work. The boy got excited, grabbed the box and sprinted out the house. Along the way, he bragged about the magic box that will make him cool to every friend he encountered.

By the time he got to school the entire class knew about the magic box. As the boy sat down in class, anticipation built and all eyes were on him. The boy excitedly put the magic box on his desk, took a deep breath, surveyed the entire class and then calmly removed the cover. His eye bugged out, mouth gasped as he reached in the magic box with his hand and grabed its magical content: a paper fan which his mother made and inscribed with crayons “I love you, mom!” The boy raised the fan to show all his friends in pure delight. The collective excitement of the students exploded in a thunderous applause.

The end…

Katelyn and Allison were cracking up as I finished the story– just the feedback I was looking for. Allison then excitedly jumped out of her bed, made a fist with her hand, put it on the middle of her forehead and excitedly said to me: “Daddy, when you were telling the story I see everything in my head!”

Well… with a response like that, I guess that story was magical to me too.

This is cool if you have children like me. The full Wikipedia for Schools selection has been made available on a DVD. It’s a free and community-based alternative to Microsoft Encarta and the likes. Very cool…

K&A may be a bit too young for this, but I’ll make them a copy and check it out.

Even at an early age, Allison exhibited stubbornness. She was born in 2003, the year of the goat/ram in lunar calendar. So we sometimes try to explain her stubbornness by attributing her as “stubborn as a goat”, an old saying.

So I was working on my photo book last night when Katelyn and Allison both came running and screaming into the computer room. Katelyn was especially upset and started swinging her arm out of frustration. Though not intentionally, she hit Allison. I promptly sent her to the corner. Intentionally or not, she violated rule #1 “no hitting.”

Later on, I sat down with both to understand what went on. Katelyn claimed Allison started it all by snatching a toy Katelyn was still playing with, without asking. I gave Allison a stern look and I can see her immediate panic in her eyes. Seeing the attention has shifted to her, she quickly sprung up for damage control.

Earlier this year, I resurrected the girls’ fish tank. Took the girls to the local pet store, Allison chose an orange guppy and Katelyn chose a gold fish.

Katelyn named hers Fred; Allison named her fish Rose.

I set up the fish tank in their bedroom and made it a ritual for the girls to feed the fish before going to bed each night. While I still have to remind them, Allison is always happily feed the fish. Katelyn on the other hand isn’t always keen about it. And it shows…

Rose is doing well. On the other hand, we’ve gone through Fred I & Fred II already. I promised Katelyn we’re going to take her to get Fred III later today.

Let’s hope we can fool Rose with Fred III. Perhaps she’s wised up about the situation already… 🙂

Last week, the girls helped their mom making me an omelet on the morning of Father’s Day. We then head out to the backyard to snap some pictures before heading out to Suzanne’s sister’s for lunch and then a movie. Caught Indiana Jones finally…

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather this past weekend, we took the kids & their cousin to a local park for a “bear picnic.” They each grabbed their favorite teddy bears and we spent the afternoon eating, flying kite, taking pictures, biking, reading and playing. I can’t remember the last time I got to nap in a breezy afternoon in the park like that…

I was watching TV the other evening and began falling asleep on the couch. Footsteps woke me up and I discovered Katelyn unfolding a blanket and trying to put a blanket on me. She gently put the blanket over me and made sure my toes were covered. Then she quietly left for her bedroom.

Today is a big day for our family. It’s our Katelyn’s birthday– she turns 6. Naturally, she’s very excited. Last night, we took her to a book store to choose a book as a gift for her classroom. And this past weekend she happily went with us getting stuffs ready for her party. We encouraged Katelyn to invite anybody she wants but she indicated that she doesn’t want a big party. So we’re keeping her party small, thank goodness!

Katelyn is doing well in kindergarten; she loves singing, dancing, reading, writing, drawing and coloring. She can do simple addition and subtraction. She’s on the shy side but made two close friends in her class, always telling me things about what she & Alicia or Chaelee do in school. She’s starting to help out with simple chores– she likes rinsing dishes (let’s see how long that’ll last). She’s really into Hello Kitty this year. She likes taking pictures and asked for her own camera, so I got her a pink Kodak digital camera (Valentine’s day makes it easier to buy things pink). Can hardly wait to see her reaction when she opens the present this evening. Looking forward to share with her the hobby of photography. Who knows, we may have a young shutterbug in the making.

Overheard Katelyn to her sister this past weekend that both cracked me up and gave me a jolting reminder:

“I have a purse. I’m a woman now!”

Katelyn is a good girl, I think we’ll keep her… 🙂

Any comments of birthday wishes will be appreciated. I’ll make sure Katelyn gets a chance to read them– I’m sure she will get a kick out of them.

I took off a few hours yesterday to attend Allison’s Halloween celebration at her school. She was adorable in her Minnie Mouse costume– yet another hand-down item from her sister. Allison caught me sneaking in her class during story time; she excitedly waved to me and happily blew kisses at me. I motioned her to pay attention to her teacher, but it was obvious her concentration is now broken. Next, she lead the class in the parade which was actually sad for me since it means she’s the smallest child in the class.

Today, Suzanne took off work to attend Katelyn’s party & parade. Katelyn spent the afternoon after school visiting her friend Chalee. I picked Katelyn up and whisked the girls to their swimming class. Next, I went to a local Thai restaurant to pick up dinner. After bathing the girls and dinner, got the girls into their costumes and we headed out trick-or-treating in the neighborhood with their cousin Malia.

Two weeks ago, Katelyn takes her first step in her education: she began her first day of kindergarten at Eaton Elementary. The first day of school is monumental in any child’s life. I was excited for her…

I took the morning off work and got her prepared for the first day of school. She was very excited. I figured taking the kids to the school playground often this summer helped with getting Katelyn familiar with the place. Still, I sensed a bit of nervousness in Katelyn when she began lining up for her class. She probably realized that the school is much bigger than her preschool, with lots more kids. But she was happily lined up with the other kids, smiled and blew kisses to her father when her teacher Ms Celini lead the kids into the classroom.

I was happy and very proud of Katelyn that day. I hope she does well, makes friends, and have a fun-loaded 1st year!

I was watching the news on TV last night as Katelyn jumped into my lap. The program discusses the coming presidential election. Earlier at dinner, we had a conversion about death which is always a nice topic to bring up at chow time… 🙂

Here’s a little exchange I had with Katelyn, about dead presidents…

K:“Daddy, which presidents are dead?”R: “You mean you want me to name some presidents that you know who are already dead?”K: “Yeah!”R: “Well, a lot of the old presidents are dead. Like George Washington, Lincoln…”K: “You mean Abraham Lincoln? He’s dead?”R: “Yes, you didn’t know that? He lived a long time ago and he’s dead just like Thomas Jefferson . Do you know him?”K: “No I don’t.”R: “A lot of old presidents are dead like John F. Kennedy…”K interrupts: “Daddy, how come all presidents are boys and there are no girl presidents?”R: “Good observation and a very good question, Katelyn. I guess no woman tried to be president in the old days. But that doesn’t mean there will never be a woman president. In fact, there’s this lady and her name is Hillary and she is trying to be the president right now. Did you know that?”K: “No…”R: “I’ll point her out to you the next time we see her on TV. Anybody can become a president, even you. Do you want to the president?”K pauses then said: “Nahhh… I’ll become zoo keeper instead!”